Anchorage hunter sentenced for illegal hunt

Posted: Sunday, July 29, 2001

BETHEL (AP) -- An Anchorage hunter was sentenced July 23 for illegally killing two caribou on the same day he was airborne during a 1996 hunt, Alaska State Troopers said.

Ronald Gudmundson, 42, was sentenced in Bethel District Court to 30 days suspended jail time, a $3,000 fine with $2,500 suspended, one year of probation and restitution to the state of Alaska for the caribou, which were valued at $1,700.

Another Anchorage man, Henry David Hodge Jr., 26, pleaded innocent to same-day airborne hunting in connection with the same hunting trip. His trial is scheduled for September.

Two other hunters are facing the same charge stemming from the incident. A summons has been issued for David McGee, 33,of Minden, La. An arrest warrant has been issued for Kenneth Whitson, 34. It's not known where Whitson lives.

The charges stem from a crackdown by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the state Fish and Wildlife Protection division on same-day airborne hunting.